There has been positive news this week regarding the approval of the FY 2015 CCPS budget but the final decisions and vote won’t happen until this Tuesday. We need to keep contacting the Cecil County Council and Executive over the next few days to show our continued support of our public schools.

Not sure what to say? Here’s an email you can copy and send.

On Wednesday, it was announced that the state has contributed $125,000 to the county for “restrooms, bleachers and scoreboards” at the Calvert Regional Park project.

As a “bleeding heart liberal” (or insert other inflammatory term), I believe if people are handing out money, we should take it but it’s tough for me to see the rationale for committing that kind of money to a new project when the athletic facilities at our schools are subpar.

Scoreboards: If we’re giving away scoreboards, I nominate Perryville

First, let’s talk about scoreboards. Here’s a photo of the one from Perryville High School. Pretty nice, huh? No need for an upgrade here. Love the patina. And it has a particularly charming feature where there are bulbs out on the “Guest” side so you can’t tell if the number is a 3,6,9,8…you get the picture. (Perryville supporters, lots of people have told me about various scenarios with the scoreboard: promises made, refusals, etc., but let’s save that for another day.)

Bleachers: North East had to beg for theirs

Next, bleachers. While the bleachers at Panther Stadium are in fine condition, North East High School had to basically beg for the funds to replace their wooden bleachers in 2012. (I think Elkton and Rising Sun are in decent shape.)

You get a restroom & you get a restroom! (Oprah-style)

The term “restroom” is a little lofty for describing the bathroom facilities at the stadium at Perryville High. I can only speak of the ladies’ room but there are only two stalls and the area is so small that I couldn’t even take a photo of it. I didn’t have a rule with me but I would bet the facility doesn’t meet ADA guidelines. While I don’t go to football games (gasp!), I’ve been told that there are considerable plumbing issues when the toilets are heavily used.

Next in line for new toilets is probably North East High School but I’ll have to take your word for it. I’ve heard enough about their facilities to steer clear.

How do other high schools measure up? Elkton High has the Taj Mahal of ladies’ rooms! Eight or more stalls, bright lights, plenty of room to move, and heat! Yes, I have photos but do I really need to post them? The facilities at Rising Sun are respectable and I’m not sure about Bo Manor.

Take care of our existing facilities first

Personally, I can’t justify building new facilities when the existing facilities that our local communities use on a daily basis are in need.

Whether you agree or not–let our elected officials know where you stand. Silence is consent.

Final decisions on the FY 2015 Cecil County budget will be made this Tuesday.

I found this handy infographic while searching the web for facts and figures to use in my blog posts supporting public education in Cecil County. Notice the maps in the lower left corner of this image. They show the percentage of college undergraduates currently pursuing degrees in science and technology. As you can see, the US lags behind both India and China.

Why is this critical to the U.S.? There are some positions within our national security and military infrastructure that require prospective employees to be U.S. citizens. With our proximity to military installations, government contractors, and similar employers, jobs requiring skills and knowledge in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) are a reality for many current county residents and, most likely, for future residents as well.

Why I believe in the importance of science and technology education

Let me start by saying that I am not an educator so I’m not in a position to debate the pros and cons of STEM vs other curricula.

What I will say is that while my education is in communications, I regret not taking college level chemistry (and statistics) because I would be applying that knowledge at my day job on a regular basis. (Yes, I know that I can go back to school and take those classes at Cecil College and I’ll probably do that at some point down the road but not until the kids are out of high school.) Anyway, if I’d have known about some of the possible careers in science and technology, I might’ve taken a different path.

One of my favorite STEM programs

Our two sons are in high school, one is a freshman, the other is a junior. Our older son is in the STEM program and our younger son was just admitted to the STEM program for next year.

I’ve talked before about the resourcefulness of CCPS to get things done even with limited resources and I want to share an example. When our older son finished his freshman year, he and two friends took part in a STEM Day Camp organized by CCPS. Honestly, they weren’t thrilled about spending the first week of summer vacation going to camp but they didn’t have much of a choice. They spent each day visiting local employers and getting hands on examples of the types of jobs that require STEM education. Companies like WL Gore, ATK, and Terumo showed the students how their classroom learning could be applied in the workplace. I was a little jealous.

I am tickled that, despite the budget battles, CCPS will be able to offer this opportunity to this year’s incoming STEM students and our younger son has been accepted to participate. Once again, CCPS is working with area employers who understand the need to have a local workforce trained in science and technology to offer a similar program at no cost to students.

Our public schools are doing great things but they need consistent, adequate funding to continue building a bright future for Cecil County.

A sixth grader tells her dad about one of the unusual features of her school, “When it rains, the water runs down the steps.”

“The steps outside, right?” he questions.

“No, inside the building.”

True story–the school was North East Middle School and the year was 2007.

Seven years later, the roofing project is still on the Cecil County Public Schools deferred maintenance list due to lack of funding. In fact, in the CCPS budget request for FY 15 renovations at North East Middle School where included on a list of Major Additions and Renovations. CCPS proposed project planning to begin in FY 2017 and completion in FY 2020. The Cecil County Council and Executive have now pushed the start of that project to FY 2019 with completion in FY 2022. Let’s pause for a minute to do the math…planning in FY 2019…it’s 2014…that’s five years before planning can even begin!

Cecil County School Buildings in Need of Repair

This isn’t the only school in the CCPS system that needs roof maintenance. In an earlier post, I talked about the roofing issues at Conowingo Elementary. Other schools on the deferred maintenance list are Rising Sun Middle and Elementary, Thomson Estates Elementary, and North East High. This year’s renovation project at Perryville Elementary will address the roofing needs at that building and roofs at Gilpin Manor Elementary and Chesapeake City Elementary would be included in major renovation projects for those schools. Those projects are now deferred until 2017 and 2019 respectively

No More Lip Service about Supporting Education

Our elected officials seem to congratulate themselves on their support of education yet our public schools have to beg each year for the funding necessary to operate the school system.

And, despite the brilliant suggestions for fundraising that I’ve heard in public forums, no amount of walkathons, flea markets, spaghetti dinners, or booster clubs can raise the kind of money necessary to run a public school system.

Contact our Cecil County Council and Executive and let them know you support adequate funding of education in Cecil County.

Just copy these email addresses and paste them into an email: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]

Updated email addresses 3/16/15

The Cecil County Council and Executive Tari Moore will be making decisions in the next week that will have serious repercussions for our schools. If you support the work of Cecil County Public Schools and want adequate funding for that work, email our elected officials today.

What projects have been deferred due to lack of funding? Here’s the list

May 13–County Budget work session
May 20–Final decision

Here’s a basic letter that you can cut and paste into an email:

Send to these email addresses: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]

Subject: I support the CCPS budget

I am a resident of [insert town name here] and I support adequate funding of our public schools. (If you have a child or children in school,  include this line–My child/children attend [insert school(s) name(s) here])

Our schools teach and nurture the next generation of Cecil County citizens and, in order for this county to prosper and grow, our students need the proper facilities and services. Our school system has been underfunded for too long, projects have been deferred for years, and the infrastructure is crumbling.

The newly proposed strategic plan for Cecil County lists education as a strategic priority, “Cecil County will advance lifelong educational opportunities for citizens of all ages that serve as a foundation to enhance the quality of life,” however, without proper funding, the goals related to this initiative can not be achieved.

From the Cecil County Strategic Plan:

“GOAL 1: Provide advocacy to enhance the public perception of the value of education.
1.1 Community leaders and officials will promote the value of education related to return on investment in employment viability and income.
1.2 Create awareness regarding the positive impact of education on creating safe and healthy communities.”

Recent Actions & Recommendations Do Not Support Principles Stated in the Plan

The spirit of the strategic plan is not reflected in the current actions of the county. In fact, the county has already reduced the CCPS operating budget by $1.8 million and the Citizens’ Budget Advisory Committee last week recommended a further reduction of $2.8 million to maintenance of effort levels. These reductions would cause lasting damage to our schools, their employees, and our students.

A brighter future for Cecil County starts in our schools but your actions will determine their success. I ask you to support the work of CCPS by providing adequate funding for our public schools.

Respectfully,

[your name]
[your address]

Heavy equipment arrived at Panther Stadium at Perryville High School this morning to demolish the old track in order to make way for a new one. Most work will be completed before graduation.

I’ve been asked by several people about the possibility of getting a turf field as part of this project in order to prevent any future construction from damaging the track. While that may be an ideal situation, it isn’t happening this time out. During Tuesday night’s county council meeting, officials cited the recent installation of a turf field after the installation of a track of Aberdeen High School as an example of the projects being completed at different times.

Does anyone know how long our track project has been on a list for consideration?

In the last two months, I’ve attended my share of county council meetings and heard more than a few people, some citizens, others elected officials, suggest that Cecil County Public Schools needs to stop wasting money.

One elected official recommended that CCPS hire an auditor because such a professional is, and I’m paraphrasing so bear with me, “trained to find waste, prioritize spending, and be resourceful.” Uh huh.

As I sit in these meetings and read the comments online imploring the county executive and county council to “cut the out of control spending,” I can only shake my head and think that this person has now outed himself as someone who hasn’t visited a school lately.

So I’ve spent some time looking for this “waste” in the data on the CCPS website and ran across this statistic:

Cecil County ranks last in the state for transportation costs per eligible student. The state average transportation cost per student is $1,042, while the Cecil County cost per student is $638; that’s a savings of $404. By using tactics like the installation of GPS in school buses, CCPS transportation cost is nearly 40% below the state average.

If only 25% of the 15,634 enrolled students (2013) are eligible for bus transportation, that’s a savings of over $1.5 million per year.

Tell me again about this so called waste.

http://dbs.ccps.org/budget1/FY2015/2015%20Administrative%20Services%20Budget%20Hearing%2002.05.14%20updated%203.28.14.pdf

Last Tuesday, and several Tuesdays in recent months, parents, teachers, and administrators have spoken to the the Cecil County Council in support of more funding for the public school system.

Below are my comments from the budget hearing held on April 29:

Good evening. Thank you for the opportunity to speak in support of our schools.

First, I’d also like to thank you for the time you spent addressing our concerns about the Perryville High School track. As you can tell from the outpouring of support from our PHS families and community members, we are very proud of the efforts of our student athletes and we want them to have the facilities and support they need and deserve to be successful in both academics and athletics.

As I’ve said before, my interest in the schools isn’t just about sports or just about Perryville. I support the work of the Cecil County Public Schools as a whole.

In the past few weeks, it’s become clear to me that you are not familiar with much of the the good work, and  the needs, of the individual schools in our county and I encourage you to change that. Our students, teachers, and administrators are doing wonderful things in our communities with limited resources and, sometimes in deplorable conditions.

Visit the schools when there are students and teachers in the buildings or stop by the athletic fields in the afternoons to experience our community spirit as we cheer on our student athletes–and I guarantee that you will see the positive results and potential of our investment in education. And I ask you to imagine what our students could do if our schools were fully funded.

To all of you who have spoken at meetings and written letters and emails to the county council and county executive, thank you. We are making a positive difference in our community. But our work isn’t done because the county has not yet voted to approve funding for the project.

This Tuesday night, the county council will be voting on the emergency bill to replace the track at Perryville High School. I encourage you to attend the Citizens’ Corner session at 6 PM prior to the council meeting AND send email to our elected officials to tell them you support funding school projects like our track.

There is a vocal group of citizens who don’t see the need for funding public education and, if we don’t speak in support of education, only the voices of the opposition will be heard. I don’t want them to speak for me.

Contact the County Executive and members of the County Council:

• Tari Moore–County Executive–[email protected]
• Alan McCarthy–Vice President–[email protected]
• Joyce Bowlsbey–[email protected]
• Michael Dunn–[email protected]
• Diana Broomell–[email protected]
• Robert Hodge–President–[email protected]